The Tenken
by HakushoRurouni
Summary: Running. That was how he got away from his past. It was how he got away from himself. He detested himself. CHAPTER 6 UP! YukinaOC HieiBotan YusukeKeiko KuramaShizuru
1. Default Chapter

Well this is HakushoRurouni with a new fic. This one is based off an idea from the story the Forbidden Wolf, which is a very good story. Anyway here's chapter one, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I do however own Kythe.

Ch.1- The Tenken

"Well, what the heck are we gonna do now?" Yusuke growled as he and the rest of the Rekai Tentei sat on the street curb outside the local movie theatre.

They (the guys) had had to sit through two hours of torment watching some girl movie with the emotionally unstable girls, who at the moment, were busily chatting away about how good the movie was and how hot the main character was.

"What is it that the onnas find so intriguing about these nigen movies?" Hiei asked in a tone of voice that suggested that if he didn't get sweet snow in return for the sacrifice he had made in watching the damned movie, he was going to do something very drastic.

"Hiei, just be patient," said Kurama already catching on to Hiei's murderous thoughts, "I'm sure you'll get your sweet snow soon."

"Hn. I better get my sweet snow or.." Hiei didn't finish his sentence due to the loud ring that filled the air.

On further inspection, they found that it was Yusuke's communicator.

Yusuke sighed, "I wonder what Pacifier Breath wants now." He pulled the communicator out of his pocket and flipped it open. "What is it?"

"I have another mission for you and the rest of the team. Get over here NOW!" shouted the little lump that was Koenma, baby form of course.

"Yessir Koenma sir!" said Botan from her position next to Yusuke.

With that, the communicator went blank and the entire group sighed in disappointment, with the exception of Hiei.

"So much for our off day." Said Botan as they got set to leave for Rekai.

"What are you complaining for Botan? You still have the rest of the month off!" shouted Yusuke. "Stupid power abusing little bastard! Thinks he can just make us go anywhere he wants us to, this just pisses me off!"

"Yeah well get over it detective, at least this is better than watching those damn nigen movies. At least this gives us something to do!" Responded Hiei.

CRACK!

"Owww! Baka onna! What in the hell was that for!" shouted Hiei in pain/anger.

"That's for being an emotionally ignorant jerk who thinks that he can do whatever he wants, and say anything he pleases!" Said Botan in response.

Hiei looked as if he was going to kill Botan but then said, "Hn, whatever onna."

There were wide eyes and shocked expressions when he didn't even bother to insult her back. Silence ensued.

"Are we going to go or not?" asked Hiei, nervously aware of all the shocked expressions on every face.

"Uh, y-yeah, sure! Everybody ready?" asked a stunned Botan.

There were murmurs and nods of "yes" and then they were gone.

As they sat around waiting for Koenma to enter the room and brief them on the mission, Yukina was desperately trying to convince her brother Hiei, to let her go with them on their assignment.

"Please brother, I just want to go this once and see what it is that you do, please!" she begged to Hiei.

"Yukina, we already have enough people going and…" he stopped when he saw the puppy dog pout which even effected him.

"Oh, let her go Hiei, besides, she'll be away from Kuwabara, who isn't even here." Said Yusuke putting in his two cents.

"Hn. Fine, but just this once." Hiei said, finally giving in. "But you have to stay close to me alright?"

Yukina nodded enthusiastically as she reached up and hugged her brother.

Hiei blinked still not being used to hugs or with physical contact with another person. At his count, since Yukina had found out that Hiei was her brother, she had hugged him about twenty-one times in total. Awkwardly, Hiei hugged his sister back with something close to a smile on his face.

Botan and Keiko looked on the scene with satisfaction.

"It's so nice to see that they love each other. I didn't think Hiei was ever gonna tell Yukina that he was her brother." Said Keiko with a grin.

"Yeah, I just love happy endings!" Botan replied.

As she said this, the door to the room swung open and in strode the teenage form of Koenma, pacifier and all. He took his seat, and when settled in, started to speak.

"Okay you guys, there have been reports of a master thief and mass murderer last seen roaming around in Rekai. Said person is alone, their weapon of choice- a katana. There are only two known facts about this murderer. One, this person is a male, and human. And two, his name is Tenken. I want you to find him, arrest him, and bring him here to be sentenced." Koenma stopped and looked around at the Tentei.

"Hn, why do you need our help to catch a human?" asked Hiei.

"Yeah, what's the big deal," Yusuke said, "I thought that you guys took care of the small fry."

"Well, if he was a small fry, we would take care of him, however this "Tenken" as he calls himself, isn't exactly easy to capture." Koenma got up and a small screen popped out of the wall.

"This is the group of special agents that we sent to apprehend him first." He snapped, and the screen changed, showing decapitated heads and body parts all over the place in a bloody mess. Keiko turned away and buried her face in Yusuke's shoulder, as Yukina did likewise into Hiei's, everybody else in the room cringed in disgust.

"This is the same group afterwards." Again he snapped, this time the screen vanished and Koenma turned to the assembled group in front of him. "The group we sent in was second only to you and the rest of the participants in the Dark Tournament, showing that this fugitive is not to be taken lightly."

"Do you have a description of him?" asked Kurama

"No, as I stated before, we only know his alias and his gender. You'll have to be extremely careful. If you see a lot of dead demons, then the source is probably the Tenken. We'll be monitoring from here and will send in backup if you need it." Koenma said.

"Hn, we won't need backup, but you're going to need a stretcher and a life support system for this "Tenken" that is so elusive to you." Hiei snapped.

"I hope so Hiei," said Koenma as everyone but Shizuru and Keiko left the room, "I hope so."

"Stupid Toddler, thinks we can't even handle one opponent, not to mention that he's a human." Laughed Yusuke as they were waiting for Botan to open the portal to Rekai.

Hiei however, was thinking about telling Yukina to stay here, just to be safe. However, as he was about to speak, Botan opened the portal and as soon as Yusuke jumped in, Yukina followed. Hiei had no choice but to follow and make sure that she didn't get hurt.

And as Botan jumped through the portal, it disappeared, and all was silent.

A/N: Okay that's chapter 1! What did you think? Good? Bad? Not even close? Anyway please R&R! As always, flames are more than welcome!


	2. Unexpected Outbursts

A/N: Okay here's the next chapter for The Tenken, which will eventually be renamed because the title The Tenken is just dull.

Thanks goes out to Crystal Koneko for reviewing the story! Reviews always help me through my day.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or the name Tenken from Rurouni Kenshin! I do own Kythe!

Ch.2- Unexpected Outbursts

As the Tentei excited the portal one by one, there was an eerie silence that met them in Makai. It wasn't the normal kind of silence that usually accompanied the scenery in Makai, but an almost evil silence. It was the kind of silence where you **know** someone is watching you and following you, but when you turn around there's no one there and you shake your head and keep on walking and then you think there's someone behind you again, so you look back and there's no one there…again. And then you keep repeating the process until you think you've gone crazy.

This silence was the silence where you know someone was there, but you can't smell them, see them, hear them, or locate them by their spirit energy. This was a silence that only a very evil, very awesome demon could create and all the Tentei knew it.

Thinking that thought is what made Yukina shudder, sending a spine-chilling shiver down her back and which made her seek out her brother's arm for protection and comfort.

"It's alright Yukina," Hiei whispered, now fully alert, "don't worry, I'm here."

"I know, thank you brother." She said as she squeezed his arm gently.

She sighed as she regained confidence and let go of Hiei slowly. Botan was the one who voiced the thought on everyone's minds.

"Why is it so…silent?" she asked while overcoming the eerie feeling in here stomach. "This is just too creepy."

There was more silence as the group continued down the almost impossible trek that was Makai's woods.

"So how in the hell are we supposed to find the "Tenken" if we don't know what he looks like, where he is exactly, or what he's really capable of?" shouted Yusuke in frustration after an hour's worth of further searching, which needless to say, found the Tentei still empty handed.

"Patience is a virtue Yusuke." Kurama stated calmly, so as not to irk the Spirit Detective further.

"Yeah well, this is just a bunch of crap anyway. If we could just find this guy, I wouldn't be bored out of my mind!" retorted Yusuke angrily.

After a minute more of silence, a harsh stench met the Tentei's noses. It wasn't right. Up until now, they had just noticed, there hadn't been a smell in the air, and then all of a sudden, this rancid stench had clouded their senses.

Hiei knew what that smell meant and what it was. It was blood, demon blood, with rotting flesh to accompany it. There was also some fresh blood as well.

"It seems detective," Hiei said smirking, "that you have gotten exactly what you wished for."

Everyone except Kurama turned to look at him questioningly.

"What do you mean by that Hiei?" asked Yukina worriedly.

"Can't you smell it?" Hiei asked. "That horrid stench that's making the air moist and turning the sky red."

Puzzled looks met his last statement. Hiei sighed agitatedly, the only one who had gotten it so far was the fox, and he was keeping silent, staring straight ahead.

"That stench, that rancid, spine-tingling scent, is blood." Hiei finished coolly.

All the others stopped dead.

"And," Hiei said sniffing the air again, "I believe a lot of it is fresh."

He could see the two females visibly pale, while Yusuke merely blinked.

"How far away are we from the source of all of this?" asked Botan swallowing nervously.

Hiei closed his eyes and sniffed the air once again. Finally, he opened them.

"We're about one hundred kilometers from the "source" still, that way. Correct fox?"

Kurama in turn sniffed to catch the scent and then nodded, "Yes, one hundred kilometers away means we should be there in about an hour, maybe less if we move fast."

Yusuke cracked his knuckles enthusiastically, "Well what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that, they set off on the long hike towards their target.

As they continued walking and came steadily closer to the "source" as Hiei had so casually dubbed it, said person felt a tap on his shoulder. He knew immediately that it was Yukina. He slowed his pace to match hers and turned and whispered, "What is it Yukina?" he asked with mild concern in his voice. _Damn! I'm Hiei I'm not supposed to have these kinds of emotions! Damnation!_

She seemed, embarrassed by what she was about to ask, but she wanted to know, she had to know. Whispering softly so as not to be overheard, she asked,

"Hiei, brother, do you, uh, do you like Botan?"

Hiei turned his head towards her so abruptly she was surprised that it didn't snap off. He was about to retort, and would have too, had the action of turning his head not caused him to miss the low branch of a particularly nasty tree. The end result was Hiei landing rather ungracefully on his butt on the ground. Almost immediately though, he righted himself, brushed himself off, and continued to walk along as if nothing had happened.

Satisfied, he turned back to Yukina, almost glaring, "What did you say?"

"I said," whispered Yukina, "do you like Botan?"

Hiei was about to deny and say no, when he found himself actually contemplating the thought. But why? Why was he even thinking about the onna? What did he care if she died on a mission? What did he care if she was injured? What did he care if she just disappeared forever?

'_But why wouldn't you care?' _His mind thought.

_Because she's just an annoyingly, idiotic, strangely attractive, horribly sexy…oh hell. _He thought.

'_You see? You do like her…or maybe you love her.'_ His mind retorted.

_Shut up! Just shut the hell up! _He shouted to himself.

'_No. Not until you admit it! You love her! You love the onna! You love Botan!'_

_No, never, I can't…_

'_And why not!' His mind questioned angrily, 'You already do!'_

_No I don't! _Hiei thought feebly, but it was useless now, the battle was over.

'Admit it! You Hiei Jaganashi, Love Botan! You Love Her' 

Hiei didn't think of anything for a few minutes, and then, _Fine, I guess I like her._

'_You guess?'_

Alright already, god dammit! I Love Botan! Happy now! Hiei thought loudly. 

Silence and then Hiei said, just in case his mind was going to taunt him, "I LOVE BOTAN DAMMIT!"

Luckily for Hiei, the only one who heard him was Yukina, who could only gasp at the sudden outburst.

Hiei realizing his mistake, quickly slapped his hand over his mouth and mentally kicked himself as well as his mind.

He felt heat rise to his cheeks at an alarming rate and knew that he was blushing. Why oh why had he listened to his mind? He was going to go crazy if he kept it up. He never had listened to his mind if he could help it, but now, well, ever since the Dark Tournament, he had started thinking differently about Botan. For example, how perfectly curved she was in all the right places, and how deep and rich the pink pools that were her eyes were.

Needless to say, this had not helped his fighting in the slightest. The only exception being when Botan was in danger and near life-threatening situations. During these times, his speed, strength, hearing, and everything else increased ten-fold until the situation was resolved, at which time he would say, "I didn't want the toddler to say that it was my fault that you got killed. Trust me, it wouldn't matter to me." Then Botan would give him a nervous smile, look at him in confusion, and then carefully edge away from him until the mission was over.

He looked over at Yukina who was still as astonished as ever and muttered, "What?"

"Are you…do you…did you really mean it? What you said about you loving Botan?" she whispered, while struggling to form a sentence.

Hiei bowed his head in silence.

"Brother?" Nothing. "Hiei?" Yukina tried again.

"Yes, yes, I did mean it." Hiei said softly, still ashamed of himself, "I love Botan, Yukina."

Out of nowhere, Yukina's arms encircled him in a hug.

"Oh this is wonderful Hiei! Just wonderful!"

Hiei looked at his sister with an extremely bewildered and puzzled expression and asked, "Why is it so great?"

Yukina looked at him with…was that a smirk! Yes no doubt about it! There was a smirk on his sister's face! The innocent little Yukina, who had never done anything but smile, was smirking at him! Her older brother, the Hiei Jaganashi! The lone wielder of the Darkness Flame! Teasingly no less!

"Oh, you'll see!" she said as she skipped away from him, all thoughts of the blood filled air and unusually silent silence, forgotten. This would not turn out good.

"Not good at all." Hiei thought to himself miserably as he sped up to a very light jog to catch up with the others.

A/N: Okay, well there was chapter two! Chapter three is under construction and should be out shortly but you never know! Once again, thank you Crystal Koneko for reviewing the story! Fear not, the HieiBotan fluff is yet to come! Anyways, please R&R and I'll see ya (not physically) next time!

Oh yeah, if you were reading Palett High, one of my other stories, the next chapter is under construction and should be soon! However I'm not making any promises, but I am working on it! R&R!


	3. The Tenken

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I do however own Kythe.

A/N: Well this is chapter three for The Tenken! Once again I'd like to thank Crystal Koneko for reviewing the story as well as Lexi-Teniro and Kenshin44 and carrie hinojosa.

Anyway, I figure it's about time that the group meets the Tenken don't you? So without further..waiting, for lack of a better word, here it is!

Disclaimer: Well I still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, any of its characters, or the name Tenken from Rurouni Kenshin. I do however own Kythe.

Ch.3- The Tenken

It wasn't until they were about ten kilometers away from the source of blood and guts that Yukina started moving back towards Hiei.

"Hiei?" she asked.

"Please don't ask me again Yukina, I'm still trying to cope with myself and the truth."

She shook her head, "No it's not that. What do I do when you guys are fighting? Do I stay with you? Or do I hide somewhere?"

As she said this, Hiei noticed that she was genuinely scared. To be honest, he hadn't really thought about it…considering the circumstances.

"You just stay with me, alright?" She nodded thankfully with a bright smile.

Hiei couldn't help but grin. Ever since Yukina had found out that Hiei was her brother, she had caused many different emotions to be unleashed, happiness, care, and worry. He was becoming soft, and that scared him. What if Yukina was in trouble and he had to give up because he actually cared for her. He didn't know if he could do it, he had never given up in a battle, ever.

Now coming to within hearing distance of the "source" they heard screams and shouts of pain and agony and fear. They were blood-chilling screams that were muffled as their owners' throats filled with the life giving substance. A minute later, the first body was found. And that was all it was, a body, no limbs, no head, just a stump of flesh.

Said head was a good ten meters further up the path the Tentei was taking. Yukina and Botan cringed as they saw it. Hiei heard both Botan and Yukina swallow in disgusted agony.

Yusuke and Kurama remained impassive and Hiei…well hell, he was Hiei.

Steadily the body count of dead demons increased. No one body was complete, at least each one missing a limb while some…well let's just say it wasn't very pretty.

Closer and closer they came, each noticing the thinning of trees, signifying the coming of a clearing. The closer they came, the darker and more like blood the sky became until they could taste the blood in their mouths.

"You know, all of a sudden I'm regretting coming with you guys on this mission." muttered Botan in a really shaky voice.

"Hn." Was all Hiei said before he allowed himself to move a few steps closer toward her. She didn't notice, nor did anybody else for that matter. _Thank god!_ He thought, _I really am going soft. _

Unbeknownst to Hiei, Kurama was smirking evilly. He concentrated a little before he opened a mental link to Hiei.

_**So Hiei, are you, oh how should I put this? Uhh…growing attached to Botan? **_

Hiei's face barely even twitched.

Hn. So what if I am? 

Kurama blinked. He had expected outright denial, not that response. **_So you are then?_**

_As much as I hate to admit it fox, I've fallen for her…hard._

Kurama was stunned. It looked as if this conversation was going to turn to a counseling session, and he would have to be the therapist.

**_Well, when did this change of taste come about? _**He questioned.

Hn. At the end of the Dark Tournament…why? 

_**Umm, no reason.**_

Kurama thought. He started again, **_How far do these "feelings" actually go Hiei? Do they actually go as far as lo…_**

Bite your tongue fox, or I'll take it out. Besides, shouldn't you be worried about your own personal life, with a certain baka's sister?

The link went dead.

_Oh, damn I'm good! _Hiei thought cockily. Even from his position behind him, Hiei could see the blush radiating from Kurama's cheeks.

Suddenly. A corpse flew threw the air. Said corpse no longer had a head nor did it have any of its limbs.

Botan screamed and grabbed a hold of Hiei.

Yukina screamed and grabbed a hold of Hiei.

Hiei's eyes widened in shock as he blushed.

Yukina he could handle, but Botan? This was just too much for the poor fire demon. He cleared his throat to catch the two females' attention. Yukina being his kin wasn't embarrassed. Botan however, was and, scared for her life, she quickly relinquished her grip from Hiei's neck, around which her arms had been.

"Uh...I…I'm sorry H-Hiei, I didn't mean…please don't hurt me!" she whimpered as she tripped over herself while trying to run from him, closing her eyes as she hit the ground.

Hiei looked at her for a minute, then over at Yusuke, Kurama, and Yukina who were all quietly creeping closer to the "source" and ignoring Botan and himself. He sighed and went over to the fallen fairy girl and bent down to her eye level, resting one knee on the ground.

"Hn, onna." Botan merely curled up into a protective ball.

He tried again, raising his voice, "Onna." Botan only curled into an even tighter ball.

Then, realization hit him. He lowered his voice to a soft, almost soothing whisper, "Onna." When he received no answer again, he continued, "Onna look at me." In response Botan squeezed her eyes shut tighter. When he received no answer yet again, he tried in an even softer voice, "Botan, look at me." It wasn't a request, it was an order. Botan however, still remained in her little protective ball. "Botan," Hiei whispered, "do I…do I really scare you that much?"

Still nothing.

He had never seen her like this, it was…scaring him, and he was worried.

"Please tell me Botan, please!"

Botan finally opened her eyes and looked at Hiei in surprise. He was actually pleading…with her no less, she couldn't believe it.

"Please tell me!" he pleaded again in an even more urgent whisper.

Shaking off her astonishment, Botan said, "Yes Hiei, you…you do scare me."

"Why?" The way he said it nearly caused Botan to feel guilty at saying that…_almost._

"Do you want the truth?" she asked in a small voice. Hiei nodded. "Ever since I m-met you Hiei, I've t-tried to be n-nice to you, to b-befriend you," she whimpered, "But every time I tried you shunned me. And then when we were on missions and I get captured I'm always so scared." There were tears forming in her eyes now.

"But then you save me, and all I want to do is thank you and praise you for saving my life. But then you say that you only did it so Koenma won't put you in prison, and that…and that it w-wouldn't m-matter to you if I was alive or dead. And after that, my whole world just shatters to p-pieces!" With that she burst into silent, heart-wrenching sobs.

Hiei stared at Botan in astonishment. Everything he'd done, everything she'd said had been true. Had he really done that much damage to her? Apparently he had. And now Hiei felt moisture start to form in his eyes.

He had never realized how much it had affected her. And as he stared at her now, watching her sob silently, he wanted to ease her pain, to soothe her aching heart. He wanted to comfort her and he wanted to stay with her and be by her side until they were both gone from this world.

He started to move towards Botan, but then stopped. At first he had been going to comfort her, but another thought crossed his mind.

What if she hated him for what he had done to her? What if she just slapped him away? He didn't think he could handle rejection, not now, he was too vulnerable and with all these new emotions rushing through him, he might not be able to continue on.

He was now experiencing one emotion that had been absent from his life since his very, very early childhood. An emotion that he never knew he possessed, but always knew existed.

It was the emotion he felt every time Botan was captured, every time she was injured, and every time she wasn't within his line of sight. The only other person who this emotion ever came out for was Yukina he suddenly realized. When she was hostage under the Toguro brothers. When they had made her cry. The emotion he had thought dead in him since he was dubbed the Forbidden Child.

He, Hiei Jaganashi, was afraid.

He was afraid of what might happen to Botan on this mission. He was afraid of what might happen to Yukina on this mission. But most of all, he was afraid of how Botan was going to react to him now.

Would she hate him? Would she accept him? There was only one way to find out.

Slowly, and cautiously, he got up, went up to Botan and gently wrapped his arms around her huddled form.

Botan tensed. The arms that had just encircled her seemed so familiar. And they felt so…right wrapped around her right now. She opened her eyes, and stopped breathing. The arms that were holding her, the arms that had saved her from many a perverted and power hungry demons, those arms belonged to Hiei Jaganashi, to the one who had stolen her heart from the first time their eyes had met.

"H-Hiei!" she gasped in stunned shock.

"Botan…I…I'm so sorry! I never realized what I was doing to you…I-I was so stupid…I'm s-sorry!" he whispered while fighting a stutter.

Then he did the most unexpected thing he could have ever done. He started crying.

It wasn't a sobbing crying; it was a very soft, very sincere, very simple crying.

Botan couldn't believe it. Hiei, the supposedly unbreakable, unemotionally withdrawn warrior was crying. There were soft thumps as the tear gems, his tear gems, hit the floor colored a startlingly obsidian black.

'Oh Hiei!' Botan thought.

Carefully, so as not to surprise or scare him, she put her arms around Hiei's shoulders and returned his hug. Hiei tensed slightly, but shook it of and started crying into Botan's shoulder.

She tightened her grip on him as she realized just how bad an emotionally unstable condition Hiei would have to be in to be reduced to tears.

"Shh..Hiei, it's alright. It's alright, I'm here for you, just let it all out." Hiei did as he was told.

Unbeknownst to them, the, the other three in the group had entered the clearing and were looking for the "source".

Hiei stopped crying a little while later. He lifted his head and looked Botan right in the eyes. He melted into the vibrant pink pools. Botan was likewise staring into Hiei's crimson orbs.

Neither of them realized they were alone. Neither of them realized the rest of the group was ahead of them. And neither of them cared.

They were entranced by each other's eyes, and slowly and unknowingly moving closer to the other.

"Botan?" Hiei whispered.

"Yes Hiei?" she replied. Their faces were inches from each other's.

"I'm s-sorry for everything."

Botan smiled softly, "I know Hiei, and it's alright."

"Botan?" Hiei said again.

"Yes Hiei?" she asked. Now only mere millimeters separated their lips.

"I l-love you."

"I know Hiei, I can see that in your eyes. And you know what?" Hiei's heart stopped.

"I love you too."

With that their lips met closing the almost nonexistent gap between them.

The kiss was soft, heartfelt, and full of love. They were lost in their own little world. The only thing that mattered at that moment, or existed for that matter, was the other.

Because of this, neither of them noticed the silver haired, blue and black clad figure behind them.

"Excuse me if I'm interrupting anything." He said loudly.

Botan and Hiei broke apart like a shot, but before Hiei could even blink, all he saw was darkness. Botan screamed. The man, no, teenager in front of her wore an empty smile.

"W-who are y…?" Botan asked in petrified terror, trying to back away from the stranger and drag Hiei with her at the same time.

However, she was cut off before she finished her sentence, he had hit her over the back of the head with the hilt of his katana.

She hit the ground.

"I'm the Tenken." He said, his emotionless smile never wavering.

A/N: Well, there's chapter three! I hope you like it. Anyway, as always R&R please. Once again, thanks to all those who reviewed the other chapters!

'Til next time, laterz!


	4. Calamity Cave

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I do however own Kythe.

Ch. 4- Calamity Cave

He couldn't see anything. His eyes wouldn't open. He couldn't feel anything, even when he tried to use his Jagan.

Something light brushed his skin and he freaked out.

'Where am I?' Hiei thought frantically, 'Where the hell am I!'

Suddenly, there was light, he could see in front of him. But what he saw made his stomach turn. What normally would have made him grin was causing him to shiver. There was a trail of crimson blood on the floor that continued on into the darkness.

His vision returned, Hiei set off following the trail of blood trying to find something. Anything that would soothe the worry and fear that was starting to rise in his chest.

However, he wouldn't be so lucky.

When he saw it, he froze, glued to the spot as his blood ran cold. Botan.

'No, it's not her!' he thought desperately, 'It can't be her, not now!'

He kept trying to convince himself that it wasn't her, but her bright blue hair and wide terrified pink eyes, devoid of any other emotion made it impossible.

"B-Botan!" He shouted running towards the deity. He fell to his knees as he reached her and quickly grabbed her wrist, looking for a pulse.

Nothing.

He touched her cheek. It was ice cold.

"Botan! Please no! Not now!" he repeated as tears rolled down his face and hit the ground with a soft _clunk_ as they turned into obsidian colored tear gems.

"Botan, Botan, BOTAN!"

There was nothing but silence. And then a soft whisper, "Hiei." He ignored it; he knew it was just a trick. Then again, "Hiei, wake up."

'Wake up!' he thought, but before he could do anything else he was met with a blinding white light.

On the way to his return to consciousness, Hiei became aware that he was lying on something soft.

It was so soft in fact, that he just wanted to stay like this forever lying on whatever his pillow was.

However, someone had different ideas as another worried whisper met his ears.

"Hiei?"

Then Hiei felt a gentle hand start stroking his face. He loved the way it felt. It was a gentle caress, something he'd never felt in his life, and it made him feel loved.

And he found that he knew that touch, he found that he longed for that touch, and he found that he wanted to return it.

"Botan." Whispered Hiei unconsciously.

"Hiei!" There was a relieved sigh from Botan as she spoke, "So you're finally awake?"

Slowly, so as not to be blinded by the expected bright sun and/or light that was sure to come, he opened his crimson orbs and was met with a rather…_dim _cave, and Botan's caring eyes of course.

"Hn, where are we?" Hiei asked somewhat groggily.

Botan giggled softly, "Straight to business as always." She shook her head still giggling slightly. "We're in the Tenken's cave Hiei," Botan continued, "he, uhh, caught us by surprise two days ago."

"Two days ago!" Hiei exclaimed sitting upright rather hastily, and immediately regretting it a second later as pain exploded in his head.

"Hiei!" Botan cried in worry as she brought his head to rest gently back in her lap. "Don't move like that, you got conked over the head with a pretty nasty blow, remember? You're in no condition to be moving about so suddenly!" she snapped sounding almost like an overprotective mother talking to her child.

Hiei just smirked up at her.

"Hn. Well can you at least tell me why nobody has come for us yet?" asked Hiei curiously.

"You mean you don't remember what happened?" gasped Botan.

"Well, like you said, I did get hit over the head pretty hard and it would help if you would tell me…ooommff!"

He was cut off when Botan's lips were pressed against his. Stunned at first, Hiei slowly leaned up into it wanting to get the fullness of her lips. Hiei gently passed his tongue over Botan's lips, as if asking for permission to enter.

She granted it as their tongues met. This "dance" as it has been described, went on for a minute and then, when their air supply ran out, the two broke apart, albeit reluctantly.

Hiei looked Botan in the eyes and said softly, "Now that, I remember." Botan giggled. "I love you Botan." He finished lovingly.

"And I love you Hiei." Responded Botan as she started to play with his gravity-defying hair.

Hiei was in a daze, this whole situation felt like a dream, them being captured in a cave probably going to be killed, and yet, being here in Botan's arms or, lap rather, made this predicament a whole lot more bearable.

It took Hiei a while to remember the question he had been meaning to ask. "Botan," he started, "where are the others?"

Botan nodded towards the corner of the cave a little bit away from where they were situated. There lay Yusuke, Yukina, and propped up against the cave wall was Kurama.

"How did they get caught? Is Yukina hurt?" Hiei asked the second question with an obvious concern in his voice.

"To answer your first question, I don't know, none of them have woken up yet. And to your second question, Yukina is fine. I saw the Tenken bringing them in yesterday and he seemed to be more careful with Yukina than with the other two."

Hiei let out a sigh of relief, then asked, "Have you tried to get out?" Botan shook her head.

"That was the first thing the Tenken told me not to try. He said something about being there without actually being there."

Hiei raised an eyebrow in question.

"My thoughts exactly."

There was a shout and then Yusuke sat bolt upright, drenched in a cold sweat.

"Keiko!" he shouted in a loud voice.

Then he saw Hiei and Botan, the latter gently stroking the others face, and smirked, all thoughts of Keiko and whatever mortal peril she had been in gone.

He was about to open his mouth to comment when there was more noise, this time from the mouth of the cave.

There was a lone figure walking toward them, in an almost mockingly casual way.

As the figure came into Botan realized that it was their captor and for the first time got a good look at him.

The "Tenken" as they would continue to refer to him as, had dark silver hair that would probably win second place in a gravity defying hair contest, second only to Hiei's of course, due to the fact that it spiked out in every which way, the only difference in the two's hair, aside from the color, was the fact that the "Tenken's" silver bangs hung low over his eyes and nearly past his nose.

His face was thin and looked malnourished and pale. Due to his pale and drawn face, his eyes stood out. His eyes were a vibrant blue/gray that seemed to question one's very soul when gazed into.

He wore a hooded light blue/white sweat jacket, under which was a black shirt.

His pants were black cargo pants with many different pockets and zippers adorning them.

A black leather belt, the end of which fell to a little past his first pockets, held up the pants.

His hands were gloved with black gloves that appeared to have a metal/brass knuckle connection on them, that were cut off mid finger. (Think Zell from FF8) On his feet he wore sneakers colored blue, white, and gray.

Finally, there was a piece of rope that came up from the left side of his waist and went over his right shoulder. And strapped on to his back, supported by the rope, was a sheathed katana.

The sheath itself was covered in an ancient Japanese kanji that was currently unreadable due to its position.

As the Tenken walked towards them, Botan, Hiei, and Yusuke noted the smile on his face, empty and emotionless.

"Oh good," he said in a cheery voice, "some of you have decided to wake up!" He continued to smile at them and then added, "In case you're wondering, I do have an actual name, aside from the one that's been given to me. My real name it Kythe Razalas, but most people call me the Tenken."

The empty smile met silence, until, "Umm, Ten….Kythe," Botan corrected herself, "where in Makai are we exactly?"

The newly dubbed Kythe seemed to ponder this for a second then replied, "You're in, what I have named Calamity Cavern. I don't know what the actual name for it is but, I've come to know it as home." He said this last part fondly, acting as though he had never lived in a better place before.

"Hn. For your information Tenken," Hiei spat, "it's called the Cave of the Tormented."

The Tenken nodded enthusiastically, "There you go, I knew it was something like that!"

There was a sudden rumble that rang through the cave. At first, suspecting rain, all eyes looked towards the mouth of the cave.

"Strange," muttered the Tenken to himself, "I didn't thing Makai was due for rain until tomorrow."

"Ha ha well," Yusuke started while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "you'd probably still be right, 'cause that wasn't thunder." Kythe looked over at him with questioning eyes. "Hah ha, that was my stomach!"

The Tenken sweat dropped as his right eye twitched in annoyance. He slowly got up and put on his smiling façade once again.

"Well, the good news is, I've got you your food already," He stated, then in an almost compassionate tone of voice, "however, you'll need to decide how to, what's the phrase, oh yeah, ration it."

Yusuke looked slightly puzzled. Seeing this, Hiei put it bluntly, "It means he's giving us so little food that each of us is probably gonna starve to death."

Yusuke blinked, took a few breaths, and said, "Oh."

Botan shook her head at the idiocy of the world's greatest savior and wondered, really wondered, for the first time, how in the hell Yusuke had survived for as long as he had, starting after he died the first time, of course.

All eyes followed the Tenken as he strode over towards a small niche, probably made by him, and pulled out a small knapsack. Unzipping it, he stuck his hand in and withdrew, not the trademark candy bars and junk food usually brought by runaways, but six empty water bottles and a dozen or so apples and assorted sandwiches.

"Well, since you're the first three up, it would appear you get first dibs on the food." Turning back toward the front of the cave, he called over his shoulder, "I'll be back in half an hour or so, seeing as the nearest healthy stream is a good ways away."

And with that, the Tenken was gone.

There was silence for a while, not counting the ecstatic chewing of Yusuke's food as it entered his mouth. He was about to pick up his second sandwiches when Hiei spoke again.

"Detective, you do realize that that is all the food we have for however long we have here?"

Yusuke nodded still going for the sandwich.

Hiei continued, "And neither Yukina nor Kurama have eaten, so you need to stop shoveling food into your mouth."

Yusuke blinked, grumbled to himself, and picked up an apple, taking a large bite out of the crisp fruit while moving away from the food.

Botan picked up her sandwich and apple and was about to get Hiei's for him when he said, "No thanks Botan, I'm not really hungry, you can take it if you want."

"That's alright, but are you sure you don't want it? You're gonna need to keep your strength up."

Hiei shook his head and smirked, "I'm fine, thanks though Botan."

As he said this, he leaned up out of her lap and kissed her again.

Silence.

And then…

"KURAMA! WAKE UP YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS! KURAMA! YOU WERE RIGHT! KURAMA!"

As if on cue, or maybe it was because of all the noise being yelled into his ears, Kurama immediately woke, jumping a good ten feet in the air, causing him to crash his head into the stony ceiling of the cave, and come back down nursing his now bruised skull in pain.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING SCREAMING INTO A MAN'S EAR LIKE THAT? YOU SCARED ME SHITLESS!" Kurama yelled angrily.

"That part is physically impossible my friend." Yusuke stated, then continued, "But I was trying to get you to wake up because of that." He finished, pointing his finger at the still obliviously kissing couple on the opposite side of the rather narrow cave.

Kurama's rage seemed to subside quickly as he saw the fire demon and deity kissing, but quickly rounded on Yusuke again so as not to let Youko's anger go to waste.

"Why couldn't you just tap me on the shoulder or give me a little shove or something civil like that?" He seethed at the still bewildered Yusuke, who just ignored the enraged fox demon.

"Why do I even bother?" He mumbled to himself.

Yukina had woken up two seconds after Kurama's outburst and was just gazing fondly at her friend and her brother.

"You see Hiei," she whispered, "wasn't it luck that I made you realize your feelings for Botan?" She giggled softly, then, "I told you so!"

A/N: Well there is chapter four! Sorry for the delay but things have just been so hectic with school and all that crap! Anyway please R&R! Chapter five will be posted soon seeing as it's already written! Laterz!


	5. Captured!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I do however own Kythe.

This is HakushoRurouni with an update for The Tenken (finally!). Anywayz, I just want to tell all those of you who have bothered to read my other story, Palett High, that I have updated it with chapter five. Well, here's chapter five!

Ch.5- Captured!

He knew it was stupid, the mission I mean. From the moment he had sent the Tentei to look for the "Tenken", he knew they were screwed.

'Well,' Koenma reasoned with himself, 'if Botan and Hiei hadn't been busy sucking each others faces off, they probably would've had a chance.' He sighed, "Why in the bloody hell did they have to go and admit their love for each other right in the middle of a mission? Why couldn't they wait until _after _the mission?" Koenma growled. "But nooooo, let's make out with each other in the middle of godforsaken Makai and see if we survive!" He chuckled in spite of the situation. "Ah well, kids these days, only aware of what they want and what kind of pleasures the opposite sex can give them."

He sighed again, looked around the room once in a confused daze, and slammed his head into his desk…hard.

"Ow." Needless to say it took him a while to get back up and get the stars out of his eyes.

There was a cautious knock on the door, which was barely audible due to the door's rather, immense size.

"Come in." called Koenma in pain clutching his head and wondering what had possessed him to crash it into the desk in the first place.

The door opened and in walked…was it George? No, no George was blue…or was he green? Magenta? Naah…it was January! Koenma couldn't be too sure, but he might just have rendered himself colorblind. So, he decided on Ogre.

"What is it Ogre?" he asked. There ya go, always an easy way to classify employees after you bang your head into a rather hard desk at an extreme speed.

"Well sir, you told me to inform you the minute the two human girls were in sight sir."

"So?" Koenma snapped in agony.

"The two human girls are in sight sir!" stated the Ogre proudly. Koenma nodded.

The ogre went into the corner of the room and stayed there silently.

A minute passed.

Then two.

Three.

Four.

At ten minutes, Koenma was getting impatient. He looked over at the ogre who was apparently; still proud of himself for having informed Koenma, this assumption was supported by the fact that he still had a smile on his face.

Finally, Koenma spoke, "Well?"

The ogre looked at him in an almost confused way. "Well, what sir?" he questioned.

"Well where the hell are the two human girls that you said were here!" snapped Koenma angrily.

"Oh them? They're still in Nigenkai!" Koenma's head fell from his supporting hands, and crashed into the awaiting desk below.

Koenma lost it. "THEN WHY IN THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU TELL ME THAT THEY WERE IN SIGHT IF THEY'RE STILL IN NIGENKAI!" he bellowed.

Koenma could have seen color; he would have seen the ogre go from blue to a pale, pale, pale white. However, he did see the sudden change from pride to fear that was evident in the ogre's eyes.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? DON'T ANSWER THAT! GO AND GET ME A BOTTLE OF ASPIRIN!"

Without a word, the ogre ran out the door, or tried to at least. In his haste, he had forgotten that he'd closed it when he entered with the "news".

However he recovered remarkably quickly, jumping to his feet, and wrenching open the door he took off down the long hallway to the medical wing he'd heard of, tripping over himself as he did.

Koenma watched him go and sighed, " I hope he finds the aspirin, I'm going to need it when Keiko and Shizuru get here." With that, he clutched his still smarting head in his hands and pondered how he was going to explain this to the two over protective, slightly psycho human girls.

There was going to be hell to pay and he knew it.

It wasn't smart for him to have requested Keiko and Shizuru come to Rekai, but in situations like this, it was unavoidable. They were bound to come anyway, once they realized that their friends, not to mention boyfriends, were not back in the usual day or so that it took them to complete an assignment.

He wanted to get it over as soon as possible because either way, he was going to have a major headache and a sore neck after this, and that was being optimistic about it.

He knew it was bad when he heard the first crash that rang throughout Rekai.

'Please let me live, I'm too young to die! Please let me LIVE!' he thought desperately to no one in particular as he clutched at his giant armchair.

He knew they were pissed when he heard the second, third, fourth and fifth crashes in quick succession and they were even closer to his office then they should have been. He knew he was dead when both of the doors of his office flew open, crashed into the walls on which they were hinged, and he saw the two angels of death in the door way.

'Oh………shit.' He thought uselessly. "Well, hello Keiko," he gulped as he looked at the two literally fuming with rage teenagers, "Shizuru."

Ever so slowly, one step at a time, and inch by inch, the two women walked closer and closer to his desk.

"Uhh…um…I've been expecting the two of you." He said hurriedly. The two kept advancing, dangerously slow… "Uh…haha…um…nice weather huh?" He was merely postponing his death or demise, whichever you prefer, and he damn well knew it.

They were right at the edge of his desk where they finally stopped and Keiko spoke, "Where are our friends."

Koenma gulped, the mere statement was scaring the crap out of him. "Well, uh…you see…I, well, no they…but then…" he was stumbling over his words and trembling in fear.

"Answer the question pacifier breath!" shouted Shizuru who, despite her raised tones, still looked the calmer of the two.

"They…they're, uh, a…" he couldn't form a sentence anymore, he was trying, but he just couldn't.

"Not talking?" Shizuru asked, "Well than I hope you already have a replacement chosen to take your place you squinty eyed midget, because when we're done with you, it won't even matter that you're a god or an immortal being, you'll be dead."

This seemed to snap Koenma into action. "Okay, okay I'll talk, just don't kill me!" He pleaded desperately.

Keiko and Shizuru looked at each other, nodded and then turned to Koenma and at the same time said, "Talk."

He jumped in fright, no wonder Yusuke was so scared of Keiko.

"Well, you know the mission I sent them on two days ago?" They nodded. "Well, um, ha, they, umm…sorta got captured by the Tenken." He finished in a whisper.

"What was that?" snapped Keiko angrily.

"Uhh…I've got a funky chicken?" Koenma threw out. The two females didn't buy it.

"Are you lying to us munchkin?" Shizuru asked now deathly quiet.

"What…er..no of course not, I just remembered that I had to feed my funky chicken today, he 's been so good lately." He was met by raised eyebrows. "Okay, here's here is the truth." He started to say, but was cut off by an extremely pissed Keiko.

"You mean you were lying to us?"

"No! Of course not! I would never dream…" Again he was interrupted, however by Shizuru this time.

"Then just tell us what the hell happened to the others!"

"Yeah, talk you little, short, err…person!" Keiko added.

"Fine. They went to Makai to capture the Tenken, one of the deadliest humans on the planet. They underestimated him and now they're being held captive in some cave that we currently can't locate." He said in one breath. Stunned silence ensued.

And then…

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU SEND THEM IF YOU KNEW THEY WEREN'T GOING TO WIN, WHICH YOU MOST LIKELY ALREADY KNEW!" Screamed Shizuru. Then it was Keiko's turn…

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU SENT ANYONE TO MAKAI TO HELP THEM!"

"That's the problem, Yusuke and the others were," he saw the looks of rage on the two women's faces and quickly corrected himself, "_are _the best we have, even if we sent someone else in they'd just get slaughtered. At least the team is still alive."

"WHY DID YOU LET THEM GET CAPTURED!" questioned a still steaming Keiko.

"Now that wasn't my fault, well entirely anyway."

"YEAH WELL WHO'S FAULT WAS IT THEN?" inquired Shizuru wrathfully.

Koenma knew this was his last chance, and it was a matter of life and death. Botan would understand…but Hiei? Well, he wanted to be around to find out.

"It was Hiei and Botan's fault." He said.

"OH DON'T GO BLAMING THIS ON TWO OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING HELD CAPTIVE!" screamed Keiko with rage.

Here it was, the moment of truth, it was now or never, and, he went for it.

"It was! If they hadn't been busy sucking each other's faces off, they probably wouldn't be prisoner." There he had said it.

And it had the exact effect on the girls he'd hoped it would have.

The girls faces went from went from rage filled to curiously questioning in a matter of milliseconds.

"Are you serious?" Shizuru asked.

Koenma nodded.

"No way!" You're kidding right?" Keiko asked faintly.

"Nope, I saw the whole thing." He snapped his fingers and a little video screen popped out of the wall like the previous time. "If you want, I can show it to you."

At their questioning glances, he added, "We have to keep everything on file."

They nodded and accepted his answer. The screen turned on and showed the Tentei coming out of the portal one by one.

Koenma cleared his throat, "Whoops, much too early!" He snapped again and a little remote appeared in his hand. It had only five buttons on it. He hit the fast forward button and had to squint as the image on the screen was suddenly met gray/black almost snow like lines. He saw Yukina and Botan both jump and latch on to Hiei and pressed the "play" button.

"Here we go."

It played.

"_Onna." _They heard Hiei's voice say. Koenma tuned out at this point, not needing to see or hear the whole Hiei/Botan fluff again, he'd had enough of it.

It had nearly cost his best team their lives. Not to mention, **his **life was nearly taken from him as well.

'I'm gonna have to have a talk with these youngsters once we get them back.' He thought while suppressing a light laugh. 'Funny really,' he thought as he turned to the screen to see Hiei once again wrap his arms around Botan, 'I never thought in a million years, that Hiei and Botan would ever be together.'

He didn't know why, it had just been obvious. The two worked together to finish the missions and then turned on one another for doing the slightest thing wrong. Well, more Hiei than Botan.

'It's funny how life works,' he thought amused, 'very, very funny indeed.'

He turned toward the screen again and saw Hiei and Botan moving closer and closer to each other. Three…two…one…

Right when they kissed, there was a shout from both Keiko and Shizuru about how "cute" and romantic it was.

Koenma however, started a ten second count down.

'Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one.'

Now there were two screams as Keiko and Shizuru paled at the sight that befell them on the screen. Hiei had just been hit over the head and knocked out.

"_Who are you?"_ Botan asked, obviously afraid as she tried to pull Hiei's unconscious body closer to her.

Before an answer came, Botan was hit over the head and knocked out as well.

There was a small laugh from the black and blue clad man.

"_The Tenken."_ Was all that he said as he picked up both of the unconscious bodies and then vanished.

The screen went blank, and then disappeared into the wall.

A moment of silence and then…

"That was so cute! Who would've thought Hiei and Botan! They look so cute together!"

Well there ya have it. That's chapter five of The Tenken. Anywayz, now that it's summer and there is no more school, I am finally free to update and write. As always, R&R! I appreciate those of you who take your time to read this fic as well as any of my other fics! 'Til next time!

HakushoRurouni


	6. Contemplations

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. I do however own Kythe.

Well, I'm back with another chapter for the Tenken. I want to thank those of you who have reviewed. Thank you. That's why I write fanfiction. Anywayz, without any other rambling, here is chapter six!

Ch.6- Contemplations

Running. That was how he got away from his past. It was how he got away from himself. He detested himself. Why couldn't he have been one of the lucky kids? The ones who had parents.

He had never had parents, well, aside from his mother, who had been there for him for all of one year. Why couldn't his mother have lived?

He didn't know who his "biological" father was, all he knew was that one night while he was sleeping, he was only two, there had been shouting in the living room of his home. Then there was a scream, high and scared, his mother. Next came the shot. He knew, regardless his young age, what it was. A gun.

The screaming had stopped after the first shot.

The next thing he knew, he was being carried out of his home and placed in a car. It was morning, the sun was out and he had no idea what had happened.

He had looked out the window of the car as it was being driven away, and he had seen, to his horror, the lifeless body of his mother being carried outside.

He had fallen into depression then, at a year old he was able to grasp what had happened very thoroughly. His mother had wasted no time in starting his education. He could already form sentences, speak complete thoughts and now, he was faced with this.

Everything that happened in the next few weeks had been a blur. The next time he stopped to look at his surroundings, he was in an orphanage and the target of the other children's bullying.

His "salvation" from the torment came in the form of a family of five. He left the orphanage with a certain satisfaction as he saw all the other children staring wistfully at the car as he got in. It wasn't to long later that he was wishing he was back at the orphanage taking the verbal insults as opposed to the physical abuse he was exposed to.

Kythe shivered. He didn't want to remember this memory, but it came nonetheless.

It was another blistering hot day, the sun beating down on the now five-year old boy. His gray bangs untrimmed and unruly, fell into his eyes as the sweat on his brow increased.

'Don't stop,' he told himself, 'there's only a few more yards! Don't stop!' If he stopped, the sixth sense that his foster parents had would kick in and they would come out, see him taking a breather, and would start beating him, again.

He struggled on, his breathing coming in shorter, faster gasps. The sweat on his brow started to trickle down his face, and some of it fell in his eye.

'Ahh! Oh that is not a good feeling! Oh crap it burns, it burns, it burns!' He didn't shout out loud, he dropped the sixty-pound bag of feed as his hands shot to his eye to rid it of the salty sweat.

There was a noise from inside the house, and then the back door opened with a slam.

"So, you're slacking off again huh? You worthless piece of trash! You can't even carry a bag of feed, tch. Looks like you need another beating huh, you little bastard?"

Kythe never cried. He didn't even wince as the punches were thrown at him, mostly towards his abdomen, some at his face. He was bleeding profusely and his "father" looked like he was enjoying it…again.

After seeing that Kythe wasn't crying, the man went for something at his waist. When he pulled his hand up he held in it a long, black whip. He cracked it on the ground next to Kythe and said,

"Since you won't cry with a regular beating, let's see how you like this one!" Before he started however, he called into the house, "Hey Shima, Kyo! Want to come take a shot at the brat with the whip?"

There was an immediate ruckus as Kythe's two "brothers" ran outside and stopped next to their father.

"Sure!" they said in unison, both with evil, malicious smiles on their faces.

The older man handed the whip to the blonde Shima.

The pain was intense. It was worse than the punches, and it was twice as taxing on his body. After three lashings, Kythe felt the familiar oozing substance that was blood, start to slip down his back.

Next, the whip was handed to the brunette Kyo.

Kythe didn't know if Kyo was weaker than his brother, or if after fifty lashings he had gone numb, but he couldn't feel a thing, not even the fresh wave of blood that was now cascading down his back.

Fifty more thrashes later the whip was handed back to his "father". Knowing that he could not feel any pain on his back, Kythe just wanted to get it over with.

However, his "father" had other ideas. He grabbed Kythe around the neck, spun him, and tore off the remainder of his shirt. Now facing him, Kythe realized what was going to happen.

He couldn't shield himself from it even if he had wanted to; he was already weak from the previous floggings.

When the whip first made contact with his chest, Kythe knew he was in for a whole new world of pain. The whip had yet again ripped open his flesh and forced the blood out. He didn't want to, he knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it, he cried.

The tears that hit the ground only made the beatings worse. There was evil, maniacal laughter from the three males as the flogging got even harder.

"What's the matter brat, can't take a little pain?" His "father" taunted. Then the whip was flung forward again. This time it painfully wrapped around his neck. Kythe couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. His vision was clouding, he was going to die.

Suddenly, the whip was gone from his neck. Then another kick met with his now fully exposed and bloodied chest.

"HA! That's for being so weak, you damn baby!" With that, the three turned and left Kythe in a bloody heap on the floor.

Kythe shook his head, ridding his head of the memory. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck touching the cool, now scarred skin. He shuddered as he did. He hadn't been able to move at all for a day after that beating. Then, without giving him proper time to heal, they had forced him to carry even more feed into the barn as punishment for taking a day off.

Another memory gripped Kythe as he continued toward the river.

It was hot yet again, even though it was night. He was moving the last of what had been a staggering six hundred bags of feed into the barn. However, fate seemed to want him to die as he tripped over nothing and fell into a ditch a few meters away from the barn.

The bag of feed split, spilling out into the hole.

"Damn!" Kythe cursed under his breath. He was about to get out of the hole and start filling it up with dirt to hide the bag and feed, but there was a glint of light that caught his eye in the hole.

Looking down, Kythe started to dig out whatever it was. It took him all of five minutes. What he found rendered him speechless.

It was a katana…in a sheath. On the sheath there was Japanese kanji running up and down the length of it. Kythe couldn't decipher the old text, it was…strange, to say the least.

Gently, as if afraid that the blade would pop out and attempt to slash him, he picked it up. He unsheathed it and with careful, expert experimentation, found that the blade was still sharp.

"Ow! Dammit!" he cursed while putting his finger into his mouth and sucking the blood off of it. He looked and saw that there was kanji on the katana as well.

There was a blinding flash of light from the blade. Kythe had to shield his eyes, as the light grew even brighter than pure white.

As the light dimmed, he could see that the kanji on the weapon was…morphing. It was changing right in front of his eyes. When it stopped, he still could not read it.

Then there was a shout from the direction of the house.

"What in the hell was that!" "I hope the brat did something so that we can beat him again!"

'Ohshitohshitohshitohshit_ohshit!' _he screamed to himself as he struggled to regain his footing. Frantically, he looked around to find a place to hide the sword but found none.

Now trying to hide himself, Kythe did the only thing he could do. He fell to the ground and tried to stop breathing before they found him.

It wasn't long before Kythe heard the loud footfalls, and his nostrils caught the scent of liquor.

"There he is! He's in that hole…and he ripped another bag of feed!"

"Well…lookit what we's got'sted here boys,'" stuttered his "father", "looks' liked we is gotted us a slacker! And you's knows that's' I don't likes' slackers' right boys'?"

There were grunts of "yes sir" from behind him.

"Show…hic…him what happenssss…when you's slack!"

The three had, most likely in their drunken stupor, completely ignored the fact that Kythe was armed.

'No.' Kythe thought, 'No more beatings, no more abuse!' Now Kythe was angry, "NO MORE!" he yelled angrily.

With that he picked up the fallen blade and swung it at Kyo. There was a sickening slicing sound as the blade made a clean cut through Kyo's arm, due to Kythe's unusual strength thanks to his beatings and daily labor.

"AAHHH! MY ARM!" Kyo shouted staring at the bloody, still bleeding stump that was once his arm.

The other two drunks looked over at Kyo and then down at Kythe. Realization dawned on them finally, but it was too late.

Their shouts didn't go unnoticed. Kythe's "mother" and his older "sister" came running out after hearing the first of the dying shouts from the three males.

Kythe didn't stop until they were both dead.

Kythe looked over at the bloody piles of flesh that had once been his foster family.

'The foster family from hell.' He thought. He didn't know what had come over him, and he found that he didn't care.

Slowly, he walked towards the house. He wanted to gather his very few possessions and leave as soon as possible.

That was when he heard the cries. They weren't regular cries, like that of the older residents of the house, they were young, very young, and scared.

That was when Kythe remembered. He had completely forgotten that his "mother" had recently given birth to a baby girl.

He dropped the blade and the bag that held his life, and ran to the baby's room. He slowly opened the door and walked in.

He carefully, so as not to startle the baby, made his way towards her crib. He looked down and was met with a pair of big, scared emerald green eyes.

She was still crying and now her hands were reaching up toward him, desperately trying to get to him.

Kythe gently picked up the baby and gingerly started rocking her back and forth. It wasn't until now that he realized he had put this poor, defenseless baby in the same predicament he had been in only four years ago.

'No,' he thought to himself, 'No, she has one big advantage.'

He looked at the now sleeping baby in his arms. He ran a gentle hand across her cheek. Then he planted a gentle, tender, loving kiss on her forehead.

'She has me.'

He then realized that she needed a name. He looked down at her again and knew the perfect one.

"It's alright, I'm here Kalie, and I always will be."

For the second time that day, Kythe shook his head vigorously, desperately trying to rid his mind of any more bad memories.

There was only one good thing that had come out of his entire ordeal…Kalie. They had been through thick and thin together and they were inseparable. It had been twelve years since then and she was now twelve years old and he was seventeen.

The river was only a few meters away now. Ever since he had killed his "family", he had put Kalie first before himself and everything else. He knew one day, she would ask about their family, or foster family in Kythe's case, and he dreaded the day when he had to tell her.

She had become incredibly skilled at controlling and concealing her spirit energy, and while she wasn't as outright deadly as he was, she was just as dangerous. To put it simply, if she didn't want to be seen, you couldn't find her.

This was the reason why the Tentei still didn't know about her, even though she was literally right in front of them.

As he thought about it, he was really lucky to have brought her along. Without her, he would probably be in the prison. Thanks to her enhanced spirit awareness, she could sense demons, or enemies long before they were anywhere near them. Thus the successful capture of the famed Spirit Detective and co.

From the moment they had entered Makai they were being stalked. Their spirit energy had been so obvious that even he had sensed it.

The clearing that they had been about to enter was actually the place where Kalie was training.

He, having felt the group had gotten close enough, then proceeded to knock out each of them in turn. He had hesitated before knocking out the fire demon and the deity, but it had taken them too long to break apart. It was like they didn't need to breathe.

The others were easier. The human, whom Kythe figured was the famed and feared Yusuke Urameshi, the conqueror of the Toguro brothers, was easy to take out as was his red headed fox demon companion.

What had been hard was the last member of the group. He had turned at her scream after seeing her companions fall at his hands, and he had stopped, his breath catching in his throat, for only a second.

As he remembered what the ice apparition looked like he made a mental connection.

'The fire demon, he had those same crimson eyes!' He contemplated a little, 'They couldn't be…could they?'

Finally seeing that he had filled the last bottle, he screwed the top on and placed it in his knapsack and started on the long trek back toward Calamity Cave.

This was the first time in twelve years that he, Kythe, had shown any sign that he thought another female, aside from Kalie, was intriguing.

This was why, if she and the fire demon were related, he was going to stay on his good side. Or try anyway.

"Man was she beautiful!"

A/N: And the plot suddenly thickens! Well, what do ya'll think? Good, bad? Well as always please R&R! Once again, thank you to all those of you that have reviewed.

HakushoRurouni


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